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I went away for two weeks to be a camp counselor at a local summer camp and trusted two feedings to my brother.
He was responsible for feeding all of my currently 4 running tanks. All of the tanks were fine except the Cherry Shrimp Tank. It was over fed and the filter got jammed and stopped syphoning the water through. I walked into my room to a pungent sulfur smell and saw my prized cherries laying upside down on the floor of the tank. the water was cloudy and even many of the Ramshorns died. surprisingly a handful of PAradise Fry i Threwm in there survived and the plecos are still unaccounted for. The water is Dirty and mucky and the surface has an oily sheen to it as well as a strange layer of what I am assuming is proteins of some sort.

Its a devastaing blow emotionally and financially! I want to rebuild the colony but its out of pocket alot right now and I have to decide between the cherry tank and a new SW tank

I want to clean the tank thoroughly and actually disinfect it or takeit down and restart. Any Suggestions? How should I go about this feat? I think I will start with some water changes and a good gravel vac as well as rinisng the plants and removing all the casualties off the bottom of the tank.



\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

I want to clean the tank thoroughly and actually disinfect it or takeit down and restart

Taking down the tank and re-starting is actually the worst thing you can do. You'll have to re-cycle the tank and wait for everything to mature before you can get some more sensitive species in there. Your best bet would be to vacuum up the extra food and dead bodies, and just monitor it and let it run without adding anything else for a few days and keep tabs on the ammonia and nitrite levels. Clean up the filter as well and if the ammonia or nitrite levels are still dangerously high, go ahead and do another 20% water change.

Monitor is about the best thing matey, good luck!

I tore down the tank and turned it into a small terranium for the time being. potentially i might start it back up as an aquarium but the chances are slim with my time being sucked away with college applications, Standardzed testing, and the rest of that senior stuff. I think i will just leave it all alone for now. I'm thiunking that cherries will probablyu be a bit too much for my parents to handle anyways while i'm away at college so all worked out in the end.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"